About the artisan
☩ Florent giraud ☩
My name is Florent Giraud, founder of Tarotgraphe and a Marseille-born artisan dedicated to the restoration and production of historical Tarot de Marseille decks.
My journey did not begin with a business plan or a formal apprenticeship. It began with a fascination for old objects, forgotten craftsmanship, and the stories preserved within them. For many years, I developed a passion for photography, graphic design, and historical research, skills that would later become essential to my work as a tarot restorer.
The origin of Tarotgraphe can be traced back to a personal quest. While searching for a facsimile of the rare Tarot de Marseille of Claude Valentin and Guillaume Dubesset, I discovered that no faithful reproduction had been produced for centuries. Unable to find the deck I was looking for, I decided to restore it myself.
What started as a personal project soon evolved into a much deeper undertaking. As I researched historical production methods, I uncovered old manuals and archival sources describing the techniques of the Marseille master cardmakers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Fascinated by this forgotten craft, I began experimenting with these traditional methods, not simply to reproduce old cards, but to understand how they had originally been made.
Today, each restoration begins with original decks preserved in museums or private collections. Every card is carefully photographed and digitally restored to recover its original clarity while preserving the traces of history that give the deck its character and soul.
Once the restoration is complete, the cards are produced using traditional methods inspired by the historical practices of the Marseille maîtres cartiers. Printed on high-quality cotton paper, the sheets are assembled by hand using homemade wheat starch paste, pressed, smoothed, and finished according to techniques that have largely disappeared from modern cardmaking. This meticulous process allows each deck to retain the texture, appearance, and presence of a historical object while remaining fully usable today.
What began as the restoration of a single deck has gradually become a lifelong dedication to preserving and reviving a nearly forgotten craft. Through Tarotgraphe, my goal is not only to reproduce historical Tarot de Marseille decks, but to reconnect them with the craftsmanship, materials, and spirit from which they originally emerged.
☩ spirituality ☩
☩ my spiritual journey with the tarot ☩
Drawn from a very young age to theological and existential questions, I spent much of my life in search of a form of Western spirituality that has largely been forgotten today.
It was along this path that I discovered the Marseille Tarot in 2013, an encounter that immediately fascinated me. This meeting with such an enigmatic and captivating work would go on to profoundly transform my life, both personally and professionally.
After nearly ten years spent studying and practicing the meanings, symbols, and myths that make up the Marseille Tarot, I chose in 2021 to become a professional tarologist (Le Bateleur Tarologie 2021–2023).
The Marseille Tarot gradually became an essential tool on my spiritual path. Acting as a compass, it allows my soul to experience the Divine and to be transformed by its grace.
But my passion for the Marseille Tarot did not stop there. In 2023, it led me to create the company Tarotgraphe, dedicated to restoring and producing historical Marseille Tarot decks using the traditional craft methods of Provençal card makers from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Alongside my professional work, my deep desire to understand the true meaning of the Marseille Tarot led me to immerse myself in Neoplatonic and Hermetic philosophy, Catholic and Kabbalistic theology, as well as the study of astrology and alchemy.
These studies marked a major turning point in my spiritual journey, as they led me to embrace a worldview both visible and invisible shared by our ancestors.
Today, I wish to offer authentic marseille tarot crafted according to the tradition of my region and I would like to share the fruits of my spiritual discoveries with anyone who feels called to them.
Shaped by Art
A Lifelong Relationship with Art
Alongside my fascination with historical craftsmanship, I have always been deeply drawn to the universe of art.
This passion led me to pursue literary studies with a specialization in Art History and Fine Arts, followed by further studies in Art History and Archaeology at the University of Provence Aix-Marseille.
From an early age, I was captivated by Renaissance painting, medieval art, and the architecture of past centuries. Beyond their beauty, I was fascinated by the way these works embodied the values, beliefs, and aspirations of the civilizations that created them. At the same time, I developed a strong interest in photography and digital image restoration, spending countless hours capturing, studying, and refining images. These skills would later become an essential part of my work restoring historical Tarot decks.
For me, art is at its most profound when it transcends mere decoration and serves a higher purpose. Much like the craftsmen and artists of past centuries, I believe that the noblest works are those created in the service of something greater than ourselves, whether that be beauty, tradition, faith, or the preservation of cultural heritage.
☩ OUR mission ☩
In an age where most objects are designed for speed, convenience, and mass production, my mission is to preserve a different vision of craftsmanship.
Through Tarotgraphe, I seek to reconnect the Tarot de Marseille with the traditions, materials, and expertise that once gave it life. Beyond the cards themselves, my work is an effort to preserve a forgotten cultural heritage and to keep alive a craft that has almost disappeared.
Each deck is created with the conviction that historical objects deserve more than simple reproduction. They deserve to be understood, restored with respect, and transmitted to future generations in a way that remains faithful to their original spirit.
My ambition is not merely to recreate old Tarot decks, but to contribute, in my own way, to the preservation of a centuries-old tradition and the enduring legacy of the Marseille master cardmakers.